iPad Academy : This site includes many tips and tutorials.
iPads in Schools: This is a LiveBinder collection of resources associated with iPads.
Digital Wish : Includes an App Center and other resources
General Use Apps
Arts Apps
English and Language Arts Apps
Math and Science Apps
Social Studies Apps
World Language Apps
Digital Textbooks and E-books
E-Book Platforms: iBooksCourseSmartKnoInklingPearson eText for StudentsFree BooksGoogle BooksKindleNookChegg iBooks - This app is controlled by Apple. You get the actual books from iTunes. There are10 textbooks available right now - but it seems more are being added each week (in fact 4 were added this week). Each one is $14.99, and are fully interactive. The main advantage of iBooks is that the books are extremely cheap, they are very interactive, and they're for sell, not for rent. The downside is that there aren't very many and I think you can only access them through the iBooks app/iTunes? It has nice built in note taking and annotation features - including the ability to make note cards.
Kno - This platform is mainly aimed at college students, but it has a really nice organizational platform and nice built in note taking and annotation features. The books can be accessed from ipad or from pc/mac. They have a wide selection of (mainly college level) books, but the prices are outrageous, both for renting and for buying. Available books can be searched for here: http://www.kno.com/home CourseSmart - A platform mainly designed for college students. It has an extremely wide selection of books - perhaps the largest of anywhere, and the books are available on ipad and on pc/mac. The books are mainly direct copies of printed books. I, personally, don't like the platform's features for annotation compared to other platforms. From what I can tell, all of the books are for rent, not for sale (some are 180 days, some are 360 days, and some are 540 days). The rental prices seem better than Kno's, but nowhere as cheap as iBooks. It also seems to support some publisher supplements like MathXL, etc. You can see available items here: http://instructors.coursesmart.com/
Inkling - I really like the platform here. Very nice annotation ability, and the ability to have interactive discussions linked to passages within the book is a nice feature. The book selection is very limited right now, (for instance they have NO math books at all right now). The books they have seem to be really good ones and they are interactive. It has the nice feature that you can buy books in whole or by chapter. The down side is that (I think) the books can only be accessed via the inkling iPad app - so they're not viewable on any other device. Ironically, it seems like you cannot browse the titles from within the app. You have to go to a web browser. You can find available books here: http://www.inkling.com/
Pearson eText for Students - Pearson offers a very limited selection of the books in their catalog through this app. Their website and their app isn't very good, so it's hard to get information about prices and features. You can find the available titles here: http://media.pearsoncmg.com/ab/etext_ipad_titles/
Free Books app - A large collection of books available in the free domain. A very large selection of classic novels. This looks like it might be excellent app for an English class.
Google Books app - Just a storage compartment/reader for e-books. Renders basic searchable text.
Kindle app - I haven't really looked into this yet, but it also seems to be a storage compartment/reader for e-books. It has some annotation and bookmarking features, but nothing extraordinary. I don't know if it can display books bought from sources other than amazon.
Nook - I haven't really investigated this app yet, but I imagine it's a lot like the kindle platform. I also don't know if it's proprietary in the sources of books it can display.
Chegg - This isn't a very good app. It offers textbook rentals by the semester. Maybe down the line it will grow into something better.
What textbook provider has the largest library? (Aug. 17, 2011) - http://mashable.com/2011/08/17/etextbooks-biggest-library-study/
No More Paper - Digital eTextbooks are Here to Stay (Sep. 2011) - http://www.olemiss.edu/depts/cetl/MantleSept11.pdf
Six Companies Aiming to Digitize the Textbook Industry (May 10, 2011) - http://mashable.com/2011/05/10/digital-textbook-companies/ (Note: This last article is not aimed at iPad users. Some of the mentioned systems, like CourseCompass, do not work on the ipad)A Tale of 4 eBook Textbook Systems: CourseCompass, CourseSmart, NookStudy, and Kindle: http://techinch.com/2010/11/04/a-tale-of-4-ebook-textbook-systems-coursecompass-coursesmart-nookstudy-and-kindle/
iPAD RESOURCES
iPad Academy : This site includes many tips and tutorials.
iPads in Schools: This is a LiveBinder collection of resources associated with iPads.
Digital Wish : Includes an App Center and other resources
General Use Apps
Arts Apps
English and Language Arts Apps
Math and Science Apps
Social Studies Apps
World Language Apps
Digital Textbooks and E-books
E-Book Platforms:
iBooksCourseSmartKnoInklingPearson eText for StudentsFree BooksGoogle BooksKindleNookChegg
iBooks - This app is controlled by Apple. You get the actual books from iTunes. There are10 textbooks available right now - but it seems more are being added each week (in fact 4 were added this week). Each one is $14.99, and are fully interactive. The main advantage of iBooks is that the books are extremely cheap, they are very interactive, and they're for sell, not for rent. The downside is that there aren't very many and I think you can only access them through the iBooks app/iTunes? It has nice built in note taking and annotation features - including the ability to make note cards.
Kno - This platform is mainly aimed at college students, but it has a really nice organizational platform and nice built in note taking and annotation features. The books can be accessed from ipad or from pc/mac. They have a wide selection of (mainly college level) books, but the prices are outrageous, both for renting and for buying. Available books can be searched for here: http://www.kno.com/home
CourseSmart - A platform mainly designed for college students. It has an extremely wide selection of books - perhaps the largest of anywhere, and the books are available on ipad and on pc/mac. The books are mainly direct copies of printed books. I, personally, don't like the platform's features for annotation compared to other platforms. From what I can tell, all of the books are for rent, not for sale (some are 180 days, some are 360 days, and some are 540 days). The rental prices seem better than Kno's, but nowhere as cheap as iBooks. It also seems to support some publisher supplements like MathXL, etc. You can see available items here: http://instructors.coursesmart.com/
Inkling - I really like the platform here. Very nice annotation ability, and the ability to have interactive discussions linked to passages within the book is a nice feature. The book selection is very limited right now, (for instance they have NO math books at all right now). The books they have seem to be really good ones and they are interactive. It has the nice feature that you can buy books in whole or by chapter. The down side is that (I think) the books can only be accessed via the inkling iPad app - so they're not viewable on any other device. Ironically, it seems like you cannot browse the titles from within the app. You have to go to a web browser. You can find available books here: http://www.inkling.com/
Pearson eText for Students - Pearson offers a very limited selection of the books in their catalog through this app. Their website and their app isn't very good, so it's hard to get information about prices and features. You can find the available titles here: http://media.pearsoncmg.com/ab/etext_ipad_titles/
Free Books app - A large collection of books available in the free domain. A very large selection of classic novels. This looks like it might be excellent app for an English class.
Google Books app - Just a storage compartment/reader for e-books. Renders basic searchable text.
Kindle app - I haven't really looked into this yet, but it also seems to be a storage compartment/reader for e-books. It has some annotation and bookmarking features, but nothing extraordinary. I don't know if it can display books bought from sources other than amazon.
Nook - I haven't really investigated this app yet, but I imagine it's a lot like the kindle platform. I also don't know if it's proprietary in the sources of books it can display.
Chegg - This isn't a very good app. It offers textbook rentals by the semester. Maybe down the line it will grow into something better.
What textbook provider has the largest library? (Aug. 17, 2011) - http://mashable.com/2011/08/17/etextbooks-biggest-library-study/
No More Paper - Digital eTextbooks are Here to Stay (Sep. 2011) - http://www.olemiss.edu/depts/cetl/MantleSept11.pdf
Six Companies Aiming to Digitize the Textbook Industry (May 10, 2011) - http://mashable.com/2011/05/10/digital-textbook-companies/
(Note: This last article is not aimed at iPad users. Some of the mentioned systems, like CourseCompass, do not work on the ipad)A Tale of 4 eBook Textbook Systems: CourseCompass, CourseSmart, NookStudy, and Kindle: http://techinch.com/2010/11/04/a-tale-of-4-ebook-textbook-systems-coursecompass-coursesmart-nookstudy-and-kindle/